LIVERPOOL:November 20, 2015. Port of Liverpool operator Peel Ports says 50 shippers including Diageo, JCB, B&M, Jaguar Land Rover, Matalan and Typhoo have switched a total of 400,000 TEUs from Britain's south-east ports to the north-west in bid to cut the operating and environmental costs of trucking.

The operator wants importers and exporters whose goods began or ended in the north of Britain to cut freight mileage by 200 million over the next five years. In addition to achieving significant carbon reduction, Peel says the move could save shippers up to £400 per container in transportation costs.

Jerome Wildsmith, head of Supply Chain at retailer B&M, said: "By removing four million miles of transport we save significantly in our onward transport costs, reduce the carbon emitted and reduce the likelihood of delays on the UK network.

Mark Taylor, operations manager of retailer Matalan which operates a new warehouse 10 miles from Liverpool commented: "The benefits we could realize by shipping our 10,000 boxes through Liverpool are not just sourced from the transport cost savings associated with lower mileage, but from the benefits we will see in our entire supply chain.

Taylor said Matalan's fleet of trucks that serve its stores during the day can continue to support the shunt of containers to its warehouse site at night without the need of a rail leg from a southern port, while the short distance and night-time running all but eliminates possible congestion between port and warehouse.

"Equally, we can prioritise which containers we bring off the port and when, so we can be much more responsive to changes in demand from our customers," he added.